The Possible Dream
by Carlo Santos
Summary: Imagine hearing a story with a soulwrenching ending as a child. What would you do if you got the chance to change that ending? Cleris FF7 & FF Tactics Advance crossover set in Ivalice and then Gaia, incorporating songfic and Christian elements. Also has Ritz paired with the FFTA MC (though not Marche in this case.)
1. The New Flower Girl In Town

_Opening Author's Notes:  
–I've been a Cloud/Aeris (better known as Clorith, Clerith, Cloris, or as I say most often, Cleris) fan for quite a while, so I figured it was time for me to take the plunge and try my hand at a Cleris story.  
–This draws a bit from my actual Tactics Advance experience—I've beaten the game twice and have almost all of my key fighters maxed out at Level 50.  
–This is a Tactics Advance crossover for two reasons: One, because of the "reunion" in the original Tactics, and two, because Tactics Advance involves the main characters being transported from our world as we know it to our world, Final Fantasy-style.  
–I'm experimenting here with writing and posting shorter chapters (each chapter here is about half the size of the chapter it was scheduled to be a part of.) _

* * *

It was a warm cloudless summer night in the city of Cyril in Ivalice as 32 happily chatting beings, mixed between humans, moogles, bangaa, nu mou, and viera headed up Cyril's main thoroughfare. They were armed with everything from swords and staves to bows and guns, but those weapons were sheathed, holstered, or otherwise not out, with the exception of the staves, which were currently being used as walking sticks. At their head was a fresh-faced young human boy with tanned yellow skin and glasses, clad in a black ninja outfit (without any mask or head covering), wearing black leather shoes, and bolstering two swords, one strapped to his back and the other hanging at his side.  
The crazy thing was that that boy was me, Phillip Carlo Carlos, and the 31 others with me were my friends and also my clanmates in the most powerful clan in all of Ivalice, Clan Parrot, of which I had the honor of being the leader. 

We were heading home to our clan hall after a quiet day in our reckoning—a day where none of us had to draw our weapons—as we had just returned from spending the day helping out at the largest infirmary in the city with another clan headed by another friend of ours, Justin Ward. It had been a very satisfying day involving everything from bringing supplies into the clinic to helping treat any sick and wounded that came through while we were there. Beside me was one of my best friends, Ritz Malheur. I had turned towards her and was about to talk about the day's events when I noticed something that I hadn't seen earlier in the day: an unusually beautiful white flower stuck in her long sleek white hair.  
"Hey, Ritz, cool flower!" I said. "Sorry I forgot to mention it! Is that a lily?"  
"It sure is! Thanks!" She said, going red slightly and smiling at me. "I got it at this fantastic flower shop—I think it's new—down at the Bazaar while I was down there with Shara on break."  
"Really?" I asked, before saying, "You know what? I think I might take a walk down there and check it out for a minute if that's okay."  
"Don't worry, it's okay." Ritz said with a grin. "Just don't be out too late!"  
I grinned back at her and called, "Don't worry, I won't be long!" We waved at each other as I turned off while the others kept going towards the clan hall.

Ritz was right—it wasn't far away at all. That meant it didn't take me five minutes before the city bazaar came into view. Immediately, I could tell which shop I might be looking for, because even though it was not the only one still open at this time of night, there seemed to be a brighter light coming from within.  
As I got closer, my suspicions were confirmed, and I could see why the shop appeared to glow more than its fellows. One reason was that not only were there so many more of those incredible flowers like Ritz's lily, but light and bright colors were so present inside, as the shop interior featured light brown wood on the shelves and counter plus white wallpaper decorated with just the right amount of light yellow, light green, and brown floral graphics. The other reason was the woman who was tending the flowers and who was apparently the shop's owner.

At first, I could only see her back, but I could still see that she had honey brown hair that fell in soft, spiraling curls (Author's Note: that epitaph was inspired by gerichung, author of Mako Dreams)—some of which hung down her back and were tied with a good-sized pink ribbon and some of which framed her face—and that was wearing a pink spaghetti-strap dress and a pair of matching pink platform shoes. I didn't exactly look at her and think "Hollywood beauty" right off the bat, but she was still alluring, plus she had an aura that left no doubt in my mind that she was the sort of woman who would light up any room. Unless she had some sort of enchantment, whether she was born with it or not, that made her age slower, and unless my eyes, both casual and trained, deceived me, she wasn't a day over 25 at the very most.  
There was evidently a bell attached to the door, because I could hear that all-too-familiar jingle as I pulled it open and stepped through, allowing myself to be soothed by the surroundings and the aura of this mysterious woman. She looked up, and I was able to take her in in full. If her aura wasn't enough of a reason for me to marvel at her and wonder just who she was, I darn sure had a reason right then and there. For one thing, I could see that her dress was a button-down one that was unbuttoned enough for me to see her legs up to a third of the way up the thigh that, that the hair that stuck up at the front framed the top of her face in a sort of A, and that she had a smaller darker red ribbon tied around her neck in a sort of choker or necklace. For another thing, I could see that she had a flawless face, including eyelashes that were just long enough above a pair of spring green eyes.

"Oh, it's Carlo!" She said brightly, holding out her hand. "I'm so glad to meet you!"  
One more thing—she had a smile that was nothing short of infectious, which meant I couldn't help but smile back—and I also found myself blushing as I realized she knew me. I quickly but frantically racked my brain for a response, and I ended up saying sincerely, "Glad to meet you too, ma'am. What's your name?"  
"My name's Aeris." She replied. "I've only been in town for a week, but I've already heard so many good things about you and your clan!"

To say I was startled would be a huge understatement, but I managed to conceal it, merely continuing as I shook her hand. To finish covering up my being surprised, I responded and then asked her a question that I sometimes ask shopkeepers and store employees—it must be the New Yorker in me (I was born on the Upper East Side) coming out: "Thanks! Glad to know we're doing our job! Business going well?"  
"Oh, yes." She said, glowing. "Not only because we're getting good business, but also because you have some really friendly people here in Cyril! Would you like a flower yourself?"  
"Sure!" I said earnestly. "How much for one?"  
"It's only one gil." She said with a smile.

_Wham!_  
When I heard that, on the outside, it only looked as if I was slightly startled, but on the inside, it felt as if I had been slammed upside the head with a sledgehammer.  
Unbidden, a torrent of images of a young girl I had heard of once before suddenly flashed before my mind's eye: her living day by day as a bright spot in the middle of the dark town that was Midgar, her watching a spiky-haired soldier falling through the roof of the church next to her house that she frequented so much that it was considered her own, her traveling with that soldier, her going on a date with him—and then came an image that still shook me internally: that of her saying one last desperate prayer at the City of the Ancients, her ancestral home, and then watching no less than a foot-long length of Masamune protruding from her chest as that soldier watched on in absolute horror.  
The image of the woman who was actually in front of me then came back, and I found myself breathlessly and frantically thinking,  
_Holy Mother Of God…is it really you? _

* * *

_Closing Author's Notes:  
–You guys know the deal—please review and comment, but please don't flame me just because you're not into this pairing. I respect those who don't subscribe to Cleris (particularly Clotis), so please be respectful and keep your mouth shut if you're going to chew me out just for that.  
–My last name in the story is my mother's name because in Tactics Advance, Marche is growing up without a father._


	2. Maybe, Just Maybe

_Opening Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to every Virginia Tech Hokie, past and present. My prayers go out to you guys after that terrible rampage on Monday... _

* * *

I found myself having to fight hard to think straight. When I did, I realized that I had to say something fast in order to hide my complete and utter surprise. 

"You know what?" I said. "I'll go ahead and take a dozen."  
"Really? Thanks!" She replied, her face lighting up. "Is it for a friend?"  
"Yeah." I said, going red slightly. It was the truth—but not the whole truth. I knew Ritz would appreciate having some more of those flowers, but I also knew that those flowers were also food for thought—and at that moment, my brain was positively starved. Remembering what flower she had had earlier, I said, "Six roses and six white lilies, please."  
"Okay, it'll be just a minute." She said, and I watched as she picked out the flowers, snipped the thorns off the roses, wrapped the flowers in the sort of paper (white in this case) that you see florists use, and then tied the bunch together with a red ribbon. When she handed me, I looked at it and thought that if it wasn't a perfect bouquet, then it had darn sure come closer than any other I'd ever seen.

"Thanks a lot!" I said, smiling as I pulled some coins from my pocket and placed them in her hand. "Have a nice evening!"   
"You too, Carlo! Keep up the good work!" She replied, smiling and waving as I opened the door to head outside. I waved back until I was well outside the shop.  
I walked home thankful that even though Cyril was and is a bustling city, it's quiet at night, and I didn't see anyone looking my way and seeing me shellshocked. I found myself trying to relax by taking discreet deep breaths by the time I got back to the clan hall.  
When I opened the door, I found Ritz coming down the stairs. Apparently, everyone else except for those standing watch outside had gone to bed, because we were the only ones in the foyer.

"What happened?" She asked, concerned. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"  
"You're not gonna believe me." I managed to say.  
"I think I will." She said with a small smile, and she produced a large leather-bound book. Looking closer, I could see the image of a diagonally falling meteor inscribed into the cover.

I knew what it had to be without Ritz saying a word: a book about Gaia, the world that the Aeris whom I had already heard of in the past hailed from. I instantly knew as well as Ritz did just how important that book could be.  
The two of us were originally typical schoolkids in St. Ivalice, New York, and were even Final Fantasy players and fans, before a magical book belonging to a friend and telling of this world transported us to this Ivalice. At first, we were stuck there, but after I freed our friend—who happened to be the prince of this Ivalice—from a haunting event from his past (that's another story for another time), we were able to pass from everyday St. Ivalice to this Ivalice and back at will, and we had since been introducing our other friends to this world. Given that experience we shared, was it so impossible that somehow, Aeris had been transported to Ivalice by a similar enchantment? _Maybe, just maybe…_I thought, as I felt my heart and my brain instantly stiffen and react as if they were snapping to attention or peering out and squinting hard at something.

"Come on, let's sit down here." She said with a hint of excitement in her voice, motioning towards a nearby set of stairs. "You've got to see what's inside, Carlo—it's got info on everything!"  
"You don't say!" I said. "Oh, by the way, these are for you." I finally held out the flowers.  
"Really? Thanks, Carlo!" She said, smiling.  
"You're welcome!" I replied.  
At that moment, some music started playing in my head. A friend of mine at school back in our world, knowing I listen to a lot of rap, had lent me his copy of David Banner's Mississippi: The Album for an afternoon a week ago, and I found myself mentally playing back Cadillacs on 22s, a song that reminded me of the situation, which began,

_Cadillacs on 22s  
I ain't did nothin' in my life but stay true  
Pimp my voice and mack these beats  
And pray to the Lord for these Mississippi streets, hey, hey!  
Cadillacs on 22s  
I ain't did nothin' in my life but stay true  
Pimp my voice and mack these beats  
And pray to the Lord for these Mississippi streets, hey, hey!_

My voice became more serious as I asked, "Now, because we're talking about her, I have to ask you…when did you hear about you-know-what?"  
It was as if clouds floated in front of our faces. I knew it was an unpleasant question, but my curiosity got the better of me. Please believe I don't butt my heads into people's business all the time, but that was one time I couldn't hold back.  
"I heard it from a friend who was playing through when I was 10. She called me one night and told me about it, saying, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe it!' She sounded like she was about to break down, and I ended up shedding a few tears too—and you know it takes a lot to make me that upset." Ritz replied, starting somberly and finishing earnestly.  
"I ended up crying a bit over it, too." I confessed, adding, "I read about it when I was 9 and broke down a bit, but not too much. It was the first time I broke down over anything I'd read in a long time."  
Ritz patted my back consolingly and I gave her a small smile as she opened the book.

"Here's a little bit on Materia and on the Lifestream…" She said, turning through the pages in clumps so that I could get an idea of the book's contents throughout, "…and here's a bit on the Ancients…and Sephiroth—ugh, let's move on…and look at this! Here's the church!"  
"Wow…" I said, my eyes riveted to the sight.  
"I know! And here's Cloud falling through the roof…" Ritz's voice was starting to become excited again.  
"It has that, too?" I asked, astounded.  
"It sure does! Here's her house…and you really need to see this one, Carlo—it's their night out at the Gold Saucer." She smiled and pointed at the picture she was referring to.  
"I bet it was incredible when you saw that." I said knowingly, wearing a smile of my own.  
"Yeah, it was!" She said, smiling back before that smile disappeared and her voice grew grave again and she told me, "Of course, you know what comes next…"  
She turned the page—and I couldn't bear to look, turning away.  
"Sorry, Carlo." She said apologetically. "I should've known…" I heard the book close.  
"It's okay." I said, facing her again. "I know I'm expected to have more of a stomach for that now that I'm 16 and also a seasoned clansman and warrior, but I guess some things never change." I chuckled slightly as I finished at myself and was relieved to see Ritz chuckling a little as well.  
All the while, David Banner kept playing in my head:

_God, I know that we pimp, God, I know that we wrong  
God, I know why she talk about Moet all of my songs  
I know these kids are listenin', I know I'm here for a mission  
But it's so hard to get 'em wit 22" rims all glisten  
I know these walls are talkin'—Lord, I wanna do right  
I tried to fight, but these demons, they comp at me at night  
Like my mama, my daddy, my girl, and all my boys  
I lost Rachelle but I guess I still got the whining Roy  
My cousins sweet—Mama, lay that Jason  
Lord, I'm praying for swacking—my heart is still impatient  
Keep 'em off them drugs, far away from thugs  
He's still my hero, but just a shell bed of what it was  
Yeah, smokin' get a buzz, but God, I hear ya callin'  
And s--t wrong wit ballin', but my soul is just stel'ly fallin'  
And the sex and the dead, and the other jail  
God, I'm stackin' my mail, but will I end up in Hell?_

_Cadillacs on 22s  
I ain't did nothin' in my life but stay true  
Pimp my voice and mack these beats  
And pray to the Lord for these Mississippi streets, hey, hey!  
Cadillacs on 22s  
I ain't did nothin' in my life but stay true  
Pimp my voice and mack these beats  
And pray to the Lord for these Mississippi streets, hey, hey!_

"You think it's really her?" Ritz asked.  
Again, I found myself saying mentally, Maybe, just maybe…  
"I can't tell for sure, but everything I've seen when it comes to her tells me that she is. I tell you what, I definitely would love for it to be her because then we could get her home and set things straight." I answered earnestly after a brief pause.  
"I know…" Ritz said concernedly. "To think that Barret, Yuffie, and Tifa, among others…" She paused for a minute, and then said, "…and especially Cloud, are actually missing her like crazy! Do you know what we'll do to find out if it's indeed her and then what we'll do she really is Aeris?"  
"I think we ought to sleep on it." I said. "I'm on overload after seeing her, but I'm pretty sure we can come up with something once the sun comes up again…"

I then paused, realizing what she might have hinted at, and asked, "…hang on, do you think Cloud and Aeris go together?"  
"Oh, yes." She replied. "I've been a believer ever since I first heard of the two of them. What about you?"  
"Oh, yeah. I always thought they looked good together, but Doned and I had a talk about it the other day and I'm even more of a believer in them now." I said with a smile, referring to my brother, who also spends time with us in this world.  
"That's terrific! I tell you, it's not hard at all to see why they go together—he's the protector she needs, while there's no one who puts light in his life like she does. I know I'm not saying that much, but it's that beautifully simple, isn't it?"  
"Yeah—plus I wouldn't be surprised at all if they found each other attractive." I said with a grin and a small laugh. Ritz grinned back and let out a small laugh of her own.  
As I slowly fell asleep that night, the images of the Aeris from Gaia and the Aeris I had just met in Cyril kept running through my head along with ideas of what to do to find out if they were one and the same and then what to do if they were—all while David Banner finished,

___Lord, they hung Andre Jones—Lord, they hung Reynaud Johnson  
Lord, I wanna fight back, but I'm just so sick of bouncin'  
Lord, I'm sick of jumpin'—Lord, just please tell me somethin'  
My folks still dumpin' my music, bumpin', but I feel nothin'  
My heart is stel'ly pumpin', my heart is stel'ly breakin'  
Sometimes I feel like I'm fakin', man, I'm so sick of takin'  
Maybe Hell ain't a place meant for us to burn  
Maybe Earth is tellin', just a place for us to learn_  
'_Bout yo' love, yo' will and grace  
Sometimes I wish I wasn't born in the first place  
Maybe this first base (and) God knocked the ball up out the park  
So we can come home—this world right here is feelin' so dark  
Feeling so cold, Lord, I'm feelin' so old  
I dunno if I can take this world right here no more  
22-inch rims on the 'Lac  
I guess that was yo' footprint in the sand carrying us on yo' back_

___Cadillacs on 22s  
I ain't did nothin' in my life but stay true  
Pimp my voice and mack these beats  
And pray to the Lord for these Mississippi streets, hey, hey!  
Cadillacs on 22s  
I ain't did nothin' in my life but stay true  
Pimp my voice and mack these beats  
And pray to the Lord for these Mississippi streets, hey, hey!_

* * *

___Closing Author's Notes:  
–I put St. Ivalice in New York because it has a Northeast feel, if you know what I mean.  
–You know the deal–please review, but also please don't flame me just because you're not into Cloud and Aeris. _


	3. What We Do Best

_**Opening Author's Notes**  
__Fear not, I'm still working on my Pokémon story In The Club: Cerulean City United's First Season and also another Pokémon idea, but I wanted to put out a few other chapters first because I'm in a spiritual mood. Hope you like this..._

* * *

After lunch the next day, I sought out two more of my closest friends: Montblanc, a moogle time mage and black mage and the first friend I made in Ivalice, and Wells, a nu mou illusionist and white mage who is arguably the wisest person in the whole clan (I prefer not to pronounce judgment too much for fear of being perceived as playing favorites.)  
"I need to talk to you guys about something." I said. "Ritz and I met this girl yesterday who we think is from another world—not our world, but a totally different one. We think she's this woman we've heard of who's supposed to be dead. It was a noble death—she sacrificed herself to save her world—but there's a bunch of people missing her like nobody's business."

It took me five minutes after that to tell them everything I knew about Aeris, including her being an Ancient/Cetra, her meeting Cloud, her making the ultimate sacrifice at the City of the Ancients, and the void that she had left behind in her friends' hearts. Not once did I utter the word "game"—it was a mistake I had made when I had first stumbled into this world, and had it been anybody other than Montblanc I was talking to, I might have been laid out for sounding crazy. Instead, I told them that Ritz and I knew Aeris' history from reading about her, which was part of the truth.  
"Wow…" Montblanc said somberly once I'd finished. "I know she knew what she was doing, but that's still tragic, kupo!"  
"Indeed, a noble death…but it doesn't make it any less harrowing." Wells said earnestly.  
"Mm-hmm." I said, nodding slightly before I added, "Of course, I'm not forcing you to help, but if you could help in any way, I'd really appreciate it."

"Are you not awake yet, kupo?" Montblanc asked, evidently shocked. "You, as the leader of this clan, must certainly know that helping others is what we do best, kupo!"  
"Absolutely!" Wells said as I grinned at them appreciatively. "Count us in! So, Carlo, how do we know that the woman you met yesterday is the one you've heard of before?"  
"Well, she looks just like her, Ritz and I know that much." I said. "I do know one more way to see if it's really her, though. The one we've heard about has an orb of white materite," I continued, using the term that Ivalicians use for materia most of the time, "that's linked to her spirit, her life force, whatever you see it as."  
"Did you just say she has a materite orb linked to her spirit, kupo?" Montblanc asked, dumbfounded.  
"Yep." I replied.  
"Incredible…she must be someone truly special to be able to link herself to a materite orb like that!" Wells said, awestruck.  
"She is." I said, nodding earnestly. "She truly is."  
"Indeed…and it's also good news for us!" He said excitedly, before explaining, "If someone links himself or herself to a materite orb, his or her memories filter into it and become the memories that are held within it. I know that viera summoners can channel those memories, so let us see if this young lady has the materite, and if she does, then we'll have her channel the memories in the orb and see if it's her."  
"Sounds terrific!" I said with a smile. "Okay, let's decide just how to tackle this…"  
Over the next five minutes, we came up with a plan incorporating what Wells had just told us. First, we would first ask her if she had White Materia. If she did, we would bring her in and Regina, our viera summoner, would run our test on it: a channeling. If the memories embedded in it indeed matched the story of the Aeris in Gaia, then we would search for anyone who had come to Ivalice from Gaia looking for her before sending them—or just her if nobody had come after her—back home.

Once we were done, I thanked them for their help and input and then came back up to my room to get some things that we might need that day. While I was up there, I heard a knock on the door and a viera runner calling, "Hey, Carlo, your new sword just arrived!"  
I opened it, received the brown paper-wrapped package that she was bearing, thanked her, and then went back inside my room. Unwrapping it, I saw that it was indeed a sword encased for the moment in a sterling silver sheath. I unbuckled the Masamune that was strapped to my back and then picked up the new sword, drew it and laid it on the nearby table so that I could look at it.  
It was shaped just like a Save The Queen, a sacred sword only available to heroes, the Ivalician royal guard, and powerful warriors and clans. Its stature and prestige is such that it is only because smithing is one of our specialties at Clan Parrot that we can produce them. A Save The Queen sword has a very interesting shape—it's composed of two pieces of metal crisscrossing each other repeatedly while leaving some gaps in the middle, creating a blade that is two feet, three inches long and an inch wide and that also narrows down to a tip beginning three inches from the end. As it normally was, the sword also had prayers inscribed on it in white—but there was one major difference. Instead of metal, this version was made out of topaz materite. Other specifications I had made to suit my preference included a nine-inch leather-wrapped handle, plus a silver-streaked gold hilt that was not only cool to look at, but also made the weapon easier to handle.  
The sword was made of materite/materia because we do so much business handling materite. We involve ourselves so much in handling materite, adamantite, and such because it allows us to learn new skills without having to pick fights—a luxury that particularly helps when we're training new clanners—but a byproduct of that is that we, because we often receive some of whatever we deal with to keep for ourselves, often have more materite than we know what to do with. I knew that there was a mid-grade sword, the Materia Blade, which has a piece of materia embedded in it that enables the wielder to perform and eventually learn Ultima-level skills, so as a result, I had begun talking with the smiths we worked with to see if we could produce high-grade weapons from materite. As a sop to the materia equipment customization in Gaia that the book had confirmed, I had even requested that three circular slots, with two of them linked by a channel, be cut into the blade about half an inch from the hilt—just in case.  
_How odd, _I thought, _that it might be that the day after I met Aeris, I get to handle a weapon that looks like it'd be right at home in Gaia!_

I strapped the new weapon to my back and went outside, thinking I would be able to go to the bazaar again and bring her in, but Montblanc was waiting for me with the news that we had been suddenly beset with a deluge of requests ranging from helping a city councilman out with gathering food for a feast to helping some palace guards track a suspected thief and beyond (such is our prestige that even the royal authorities had begun to call on us from time to time!)  
The jobs were nothing we hadn't seen before, but we were kept busy the whole afternoon and the sun was almost starting to set when it looked like we finally had the chance to find out if the woman Ritz and I had met the previous day was indeed Aeris. I had just left the monster bank—which is where the clans store any captured or tamed monsters that they employ—after Ritz, Montblanc, Wells, Ritz's viera best friend Shara, and I had helped with some problems over there.

Suddenly, we heard the ringing of alarm bells and a shout from the town watch of "Drakes! Drakes in the front square!"  
I looked back at the others. "Come on, let's go!"  
"Right behind you!" Ritz said, nodding.

We set off at a run for the front square, getting there after only a minute to see just what had invaded the front square: three firedrakes, two boltdrakes, and two icedrakes.  
I knew we were definitely well equipped to deal with the intruding drakes because, to start, Montblanc is a very skilled black mage and time mage and Wells is perhaps the strongest illusionist and white mage in Ivalice. On top of that, Shara is an incredible shot with a bow and has some potent white magic to boot, and not only is Ritz handy with a rapier, but she's both a red mage—someone with a little bit of white magic and a little bit of black magic—and a summoner. Lastly, ever since I had arrived in Ivalice nine months beforehand, my martial arts training back in St. Ivalice, my ninja training while in Ivalice, and my combat experiences had made me a lethal mix of speed and power—and the deadliest swordsman in the land. Not only that, but I had had a little training in the other professions that I was suited for, meaning I could also steal or use fighters' techniques if necessary, but I often supplemented my ninja and sword skills with white magic most of the time because I loved being able to both attack and defend (a preference I have to this day.) On top of that, all of our equipment—from our weapons and armor to our accessories—was absolute top-of-the-line.  
We wasted little time in getting set up as I cast Protect on us, Shara used Shell on us, and Ritz summoned Kirin, casting Regen on us. Finally, since I was the main physical attacker, Montblanc got me going with a shot of Haste. Wells held up for the moment because I wanted him to be ready to start blasting away with his phantasm magic as soon as we started taking it to them.

Immediately, the attacks started flying—Shara's unerring arrows, well-placed black magic spells from Montblanc, and Wells' phantasm magic—which affected every enemy, no matter how far away they were from him—plus Ritz seamlessly switching between rapier strikes, spells, and summons and me dishing out quick but powerful combos linked by other moves I had learned. I noticed that while I was using the new materite sword, not only did my swords seem easier to wield (I thought it was just the Save The Queen type being a little lighter at first), but I was able to incorporate more moves from other professions that I had had experience in. Normally, my friends and I can only have one main job and one supporting job that they draw their skills from, but I was able to vary my moves more often than that this time, adding fighter techniques and even a little black magic to my ninja skills and white magic.  
I was quickly able to dispatch the icedrake that I had originally marked, but I didn't notice a firedrake coming up behind me until it was almost too late. My reflexes and the fact that I was in Haste allowed me to twist away and dodge the incoming flaming breath, leaving me unharmed—but not untouched. My ninja shirt was half burnt off, leaving my white undershirt (which was untouched) exposed. I quickly whipped off what wasn't burned and whipped out a throwing knife in one motion and then zinged it into my assailant, bringing it down for the count.

Most of the other drakes had been taken down, but there were some who were managing to stay standing, so I sped around helping the others knock them out. When the action died down, it had only been the work of two minutes to dismiss all seven drakes.  
"Piece of cake!" Ritz said. "You might want to be a step quicker, though, Carlo." She added with a grin, seeing that my ninja shirt had been burned off.  
"I know." I said with a chuckle—but that died away as soon as I saw five more drakes charge into the square.  
I took my stance again, ready for more, but then someone else came charging from the side and took all five of them on at once. I squinted towards him and saw that it looked like a blond-haired man clad in black with hair that stood up, who was wielding a sword almost as tall as himself. My eyes were suddenly riveted to him as I had the same feeling I had had the previous night—that I knew who this person was.

Ordinarily, in a situation like this, I would have told the others, "Stand down, this isn't our fight anymore!" This time, though, I was anxious to jump into the new fight so that I could get a closer look at him in action and see for myself. Without a word, I charged into the fray, slashing and slicing with new vigor.  
It was almost as if we were trying to one-up each other. If he used his sword to vault, flip, and then brain a drake on the way down, I pulled off a quick but punishing combo finishing with a Wild Swing spin attack with both of my swords. If he sent energy waves hurtling out of his sword and crashing into the enemy ranks, creating shockwaves for more damage, I would pull off another combo and then whip around and use Far Fist—like Wild Swing, a fighter technique—to blast a couple of drakes that were farther away.

Even though it only took about a minute and a half, the action was nonstop, and so both of us, when the dust cleared, were leaning on our weapons, catching our breath as the unconscious drakes lay all around us. I looked him in his eyes and saw, to my astonishment, that they were ultramarine blue—the color that I was looking for.  
_Good grief, it can't be __**him,**__ can it? _I thought, stunned.  
He looked back at me, and I noticed another thing that rocked my world once again: a pink ribbon just like the one I had seen the mysterious young woman wearing the previous night tied to his upper left arm.  
_Jesus Christ, it __**is**__ him!_  
On one front, I wasn't surprised at all—after all, it was Aeris that both of us were searching for—but on another front, I could never have dreamed—even though I knew it was possible—that less than 24 hours after bumping into a woman who just might be her, **he** had already appeared in Cyril.

_**Closing Author's Notes**  
Okay, got that...you can probably guess what's going to happen next, right? Well, I've got news for you. First of all, you're right, but on top of that, we're just getting started, people! You know the drill—please read and review, but don't go flaming me just because you're not into Cloud/Aeris._


	4. A Scarcity Rectified

_**Opening Author's Notes**  
Hope you enjoyed the last chapter! Now for a little something-something for that sweet tooth..._

* * *

Again, I found myself having to search for words to break silence. My composure was quicker to return this time, though, as I asked,  
"Cloud Strife, I presume?"  
He was obviously taken aback, as he answered, "Yes…how did you know?"  
"I have my ways of knowing." I said, while thinking, _You know you have to go snag Aeris right this instant, buddy…  
_I asked, "Ritz, can you get him back to headquarters? There's someone I need to go see right now."  
She came up to see who I wanted her to bring back to headquarters and gasped when she saw Cloud. A second later, though, she fervently replied, knowing I was about to go get Aeris, "Absolutely."

I almost couldn't have gotten back to Aeris's shop faster if I'd teleported. Jumping up into a convenient nearby tree, I jumped off a branch onto a rooftop and started angling quickly towards the shop. Reaching the street, I jumped off lightly and landed quietly and nonchalantly as if I did it every day—which was close to the truth.  
I quickly turned around, went through the door, and called, "Aeris?"  
My voice was uncertain, as I felt very weird using the name when she was possibly someone thought to be dead and we hadn't confirmed her identity, but she still came out of the back wearing the same outfit as yesterday, but this time with pink open-toe shoes with ankle straps and 2-inch heels.  
"Hi, Carlo!" She said brightly with that luminous smile. "Oh, wait a minute…were you in a fight? You look a little roughed up!"  
"Just some drakes in the front square. Don't worry—my top's gone, but I'm not hurt. That's not the crazy part, though—we just met someone who you might like to see, so we'd like you to come along for a minute." Suddenly remembering something else, I asked, "Do you have a white materia orb on you?"  
"Yeah, why?" She asked.  
"We're gonna need it." I said, resisting the urge to pump my fist. "Don't worry, we're not going to take it."  
"Oh." She said. "Okay, just give me a minute."

Once we were outside and walking towards the clan hall, she asked me, "What's going on exactly?"  
I turned to her and said, "There's someone I've heard of that you remind me an awful lot of, and if you're that person, this person we just met is someone who you might like to see. We're going to have our summoner do a channeling using your materia to see if you're the one we're looking for, and if you're not, nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise."  
"Don't worry, I trust you." She said, giving me a reassuring smile as we approached the door to the clan hall.  
A minute later, we were in a second floor, where Regina was already waiting.  
"This is Regina, our viera summoner. She's going to be doing the channeling." I said, motioning Aeris towards her.  
"Pleased to meet you, Aeris—Carlo and Ritz told me all about you." Regina said with a smile.  
"Pleased to meet you too." Aeris said, smiling back. I welcomed the sight even more because it meant we had convinced her that we weren't like Shinra or anything like that.

"Okay, Carlo, what are we looking for today?" Regina asked.  
"Could you look for the last memory embedded in it, if it's not too much trouble?" I asked. "It could hurt—that's why I'm asking."  
"I'm not worried if you, Ritz, and Shara are around." She answered. "Just give me a minute…"  
She laid hands on the White Materia that Aeris had placed on a holder on a table in the center of the room, closed her eyes, and softly murmured some chants. Then, with her eyes still closed, she took a couple of steps away from the table and held her hands in front of her as if praying.  
She was also murmuring something, and I went closer to try to make out what she was saying, but all I could make out was, "Please, Holy…"  
Suddenly, she cried out in pain and reeled back, clutching her chest.

It was extremely startling and shocking to say the least for all of us, but Ritz and I were especially startled—but our shock was nothing compared to Aeris's. She gasped, swallowed that gasp, and gulped from the tension as the color drained from her normally bright face.  
_I'll be darned if she's not reliving that moment. God, I hope I never have to know how it feels to relive your own death…_I thought fervently, before I was jolted back to my senses by Regina's pain as I suddenly realized the experience could be so vivid that it actually wounded her.  
"Are you okay, Regina?" Ritz and Shara asked together.  
"Yeah…just give me a minute…" Regina said. Ritz, Shara, and I quickly attended to her, and then Ritz's and my eyes became glued once again to Aeris as we were now able to try and digest just what we had managed to confirm.  
_Oh, Holy Mother Of God! Are you really…_I thought frantically, before I asked after a long pause, my voice wavering slightly,

"Are you Aeris _Gainsborough_, of Midgar in Gaia?"  
"Yes." She answered. "Who's the person I might like to see that you were talking about?"  
"Someone who we think would find you if it was the last thing he did." I said, the truth of what I was saying lending firmness to my voice again as I looked her in the eye. "The one who would defend you with his life and the one who darn near died when your spirit left Gaia because he blames himself for your death over there."  
I could see and hear the breath catching in her throat, and she looked at me as if to say, _You can't be serious!  
_I looked back as if to reply, I'm not kidding! I then turned my head towards Shara, nodded, and said, "Shara, send him in."

Shara opened the door closest to her and told the person on the other side of the doorway, "Come in—someone's expecting you."  
She then stepped aside, and as Cloud walked through, time seemed to slow down for a second. Both he and Aeris were looking at each other in stunned disbelief, no doubt unable to believe just what they were seeing.  
For a moment, there was silence as the two stared at each other, broken only by the same silent murmured exclamation from both of their mouths.  
"Holy…"  
"Holy…"  
For another moment, silence reigned again, broken this time only by footfalls from uncertain footsteps towards each other. Then, suddenly, it was broken emphatically by two heartfelt cries.  
**"Cloud!"  
****"Aeris!"  
**They suddenly rushed at each other, arms outstretched, and corralled each other. They whirled around twice before they stood still, holding each other tight and crying unrestrainedly—in Cloud's case, sobbing into Aeris' shoulder.

As we watched, I could notice neither Ritz nor Shara nor Regina was able to tear up, and I cloudn't blame them, because I found a tear leaking out of my own eye down my right cheek. What made the sight too powerful for me to hold my emotions in wasn't just that it was a reunion of lost lovers, but that it was something that wasn't supposed to happen no matter how much any of us wished for it to happen.  
Most of the tales you grow up on are happy ones. The bad guys are foiled, the good guys get the kudos and the rewards, and either the guy gets the girl or the girl gets the guy. When you see a story with a sad ending, the kid in you wants to scream, "That's not right!" and somehow burst into the story and set things straight, but as you grow older, the adult part of you then reminds you that there's not much at all you can do, and you're left with all that pain and helplessness.  
And so as I grew older, I became aware that Juliet wasn't supposed to wake up before Romeo took his life by poison, driving her to put a dagger through her heart. Christian wasn't supposed to save Satine from that bullet at the Moulin Rouge. Forrest Gump wasn't supposed to cure Jenny's illness and live out the rest of the days with her. And Aeris, no matter how often, how hard, or how many people wished it, darn sure wasn't supposed to come back from the dead and be reunited with Cloud. But amazingly, we somehow had just helped that become reality.  
(Author's Note: Just want to mention here that Beeria, a reviewer and Cleris author/C2 manager, gave me the idea for that with her description of her Cleris C2, True To Your Heart, in which this story is thankfully archived. I also still remember to this day seeing Forrest Gump when I was 6 and crying my eyes out at the end!)  
_Lord, thank you so much for allowing me to set this right…_I prayed silently but fervently, making the sign of the cross over myself.

By now, Cloud's knees had given out and Aeris had sunk to the floor with him as he continued to sob into her shoulder and they continued to both cry and hold each other tight.  
"Please tell me you're not going anywhere, Aeris." Cloud pleaded, raising his head and looking at her with a begging expression. "I know you were watching us, but you still have no idea what it was like for me without you…"  
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Aeris said reassuringly. Her voice was much steadier, but it was still emotionally laden. "I'm back, Cloud, just like I promised."  
She hugged him close again to reinforce her point, repeating as her tears stopped, leaving just a peaceful smile, "I'm not going **anywhere**. I love you too much to be separated from you again."  
"I love you too, Aeris…" Cloud said, his tears also stopping as he closed his eyes, his smile so peaceful that I wouldn't be surprised if Aeris had calmed him to sleep just like that.

They kept hugging for at least two full minutes, and I could hear Ritz blowing her nose. Then they came apart for a minute and held each other at arm's length, and Aeris asked, "How did you get here?"  
"I was looking for clues that might help me find you in the mansion in Nibelheim—where we found Vincent—and I was reading this book which showed this city when I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was here! Then I saw them…" Cloud said, indicating us, "And they brought me here. What about you?"  
"The Lifestream brought me here." Aeris replied.  
"I should have known…but still, I know I dreamt so much of this moment and yet I still can't believe it…" Cloud said, smiling as another tear leaked out of his right eye.  
"We have a lot of scarcities no matter which world we live in—of food, of water, of shelter, and so on—but the biggest scarcity of all that we have is a scarcity of second chances." I said, approaching them and crouching beside them with a smile I couldn't suppress. "God knows it as well as we do, and so he gives them when we need them the most." It was something I thought of on the spot, and I could swear I could feel myself grow older, wiser, or both—such was the effect of what we had borne witness to.

Aeris looked at me, smiled, and nodded, but Cloud looked at me as if he was still unsure what to make of me. I knew I couldn't blame him, but thankfully Aeris came to the rescue and told him, "Cloud, don't worry—these are good people. This is Clan Parrot, the most powerful and chivalrous clan around, and this is Phillip Carlo Carlos, its leader." She said, motioning around at the others and then indicating me as I allowed myself a smile.  
"Thanks so much…I owe you guys everything…" Cloud said, smiling at us, and shaking my hand, "…But I have to ask this—how did you know who I was and how did you know Aeris and I were looking for each other when we didn't say anything?"  
As it was with Montblanc and Wells, it was the work of five minutes to let them know how we had heard about their story.

"I now believe after learning your story that when someone finds or loses love, you can sometimes feel their happiness or pain across universes, and this is one of those times." I said as I finished, before I turned to Cloud and added, "We could sense the pain you felt, Cloud, over losing Aeris, and once Ritz and I met her yesterday, we committed ourselves to helping in any way we could once we could confirm her identity. Was it just you that came over here from Gaia using that book?"  
"Yes." Cloud answered.  
"That's good—we were ready to round up anyone who came after you so you guys could get home together, so that makes things much easier." Ritz said, making me nod fervently.  
"I have a question…" Cloud said, before asking me, "What was that sword I saw you using earlier?"

"It's an experimental weapon." I said. "Here it is…"  
I got up, drew the special Save The Queen from its scabbard on my back, and laid it on the table in the center of the room where the White Materia still rested. Aeris and Cloud got up to look at it.  
"Wow! Is this sword made from materia?" Aeris asked.  
"Yes. We deal with materia—or materite, as we say here in Ivalice—a lot as well, and we often have more than we know what to do with, so after meeting you yesterday, I wondered if we could fashion high-grade weapons out of it."  
"And how has it been handling?" Cloud asked.  
"Almost too well." I said. "Normally, my clanmates and I can only draw upon skillsets from two jobs at a time, but this allows me to do so much more than that. Would you like to test it a bit so you can give your insight?" I added, suddenly seeing an opportunity.

"Sure." He said with a grin, and he picked up the sword, put some space between the others in the room, and started twirling it around and performing various attacks and maneuvers.  
"Did you guys make this yourselves?" He asked.  
"Yep." I said.  
"I'm very impressed—the whole blade could be a giant powerful Command Materia." He said, grinning at us. "And to think it's this good when nothing's inserted!" He added, indicating the empty slots and making me nod. _Yeah, seriously, Lord knows what you could do with that thing once those slots are filled…_I thought.  
"Speaking of that…" Aeris said, her eyes shining even brighter than usual, "Would you guys like to see our world?"  
I took a moment to answer again, but this time it was because the shock I had to fight was definitely the happy kind.  
"I thought you'd never ask!" I said with a huge smile. "And I know I speak for her, too." I said, indicating Ritz.  
"You know it!" Ritz said, grinning back at me. "We'd be so honored if we could go with you guys and visit Gaia."  
"We have to get our stuff in order, then—we leave tonight." Cloud said, his SOLDIER demeanor coming back to the fore a bit—although he, like Aeris, wore a smile. "I don't know how much time has gone by back home, so it's best we go as soon as possible."

We nodded and then split up. After I delegated control of the clan to Montblanc and Shara in case time continued to move in Ivalice once we were in Gaia, which would mean we were actually gone for a period of time, and once Cloud and Aeris had taken care of some business back in town, they joined our clan for dinner before we turned in. The two of them, plus Ritz and I, slept in the same room with our weapons, armor, and equipment on and with the Book of Gaia also open in the room, knowing what the effect would be.  
For the first time since we had gained the ability to pass back and forth between Ivalice and St. Ivalice, I dreamt of another world knowing that what I saw was about to be reality.

* * *

_**Closing Author's Notes**  
Buckle up, because a change of scenery is in store for the next chapter, including a little trip back to the beginning for Cloud and Aeris. You know the drill—please read and review, but also please do not flame me just because you're not a Cleris supporter._


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